This workshop material is adapted from On the Cutting Edge, a professional development program for current and future geoscience faculty.
Part 1.1 What are the course contexts and constraints
Teaching a course involves making choices about what you will ask your students to do and why. External factors such as context of the course, student demography, and support structure are significant and should influence the choices that you will make as you design your course. Consider the external factors that influence a course and explain why these factors are important to consider before you begin to set realistic goals for the students in your course. Start by choosing a course or a portion of a course to work on.
Task 1.1a: How will your course work?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Does your course serve as a prerequisite for a subsequent course or does it prepare students for a exam? If so, what?
Challenges: Students are at different writing levels; content is built on in Science and at later year levels
Opportunities: Linking learning goals between different subject areas (English/ SOSE/ Science) and teachers
Does your course have prerequisites? If so, what are they? Challenges: Students at different understanding levels of environments/writing Opportunities: Students learn about their own back yard
How big is your course, and what kinds of rooms are available for you to teach in?
Challenges: working laptops / data projectors / reliable networks
Opportunities: Underwater World / Beach activities / out of classroom experiences
Does your course have a lab and/or on-line component, and do you teach it? Challenges: Infrastructure (network), Opportunities: students get a new way to approach their learning, interacting with each What are your options for frequency and duration of class/lab meeting times?
Challenges: booking lab time/ data projector
Opportunities:
Task 1.1b: Who are your students, and what do they need?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Are your students gifted & talented, middle-of-the-road, or learning support? Challenges: Middle of Road ... stretching students to reach potential ; Learning support students modified assessment tasks
Opportunities: slow workers may be able to access technology to help them In what way might your students use what they have learned in your course in the future?
Challenges: Students not losing skills because the skills may not be practised
Opportunities: Making the use of technology relevant not just a fill in. What is the demography of students in your course in terms of age, race, gender, and ethnicity? Challenges: Opportunities: Most students are from a similar background and have real life experience with ocean environment, may be able to make a real difference to the way students relate to the ocean (e.g. littering problems at school)
What percentage of students in your course have high-speed computer access outside the at home?
Challenges: some students don't have a computer at home
Opportunities: Students will be able to utilise their computers in a more worthwhile way
Task 1.1c: What is the support structure for your course?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Are you the default computer troubleshooter, or do students and staff have other support people to turn to if they run into difficulty with a computer problem related to your course? No!! Challenges: Access to the IT support staff and the time it takes to solve problems. Machine reliability. Student Profiles easily corrupted Opportunities: Fix some of the issues
Does your school have writing, quantitative literacy, or oral communications skills centres that can provide supplemental help/instruction for students?
Challenges: Support staff for students (LEC) may need training - > opportunity to PD staff to continue practise of using IT in school.
Opportunities: Better links between English (communication) skills and other subject areas
Part 1.1 What are the course contexts and constraints
Teaching a course involves making choices about what you will ask your students to do and why. External factors such as context of the course, student demography, and support structure are significant and should influence the choices that you will make as you design your course. Consider the external factors that influence a course and explain why these factors are important to consider before you begin to set realistic goals for the students in your course. Start by choosing a course or a portion of a course to work on.
Task 1.1a: How will your course work?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Does your course serve as a prerequisite for a subsequent course or does it prepare students for a exam? If so, what?
Challenges: Students are at different writing levels; content is built on in Science and at later year levels
Opportunities: Linking learning goals between different subject areas (English/ SOSE/ Science) and teachers
Does your course have prerequisites? If so, what are they?
Challenges: Students at different understanding levels of environments/writing
Opportunities: Students learn about their own back yard
How big is your course, and what kinds of rooms are available for you to teach in?
Challenges: working laptops / data projectors / reliable networks
Opportunities: Underwater World / Beach activities / out of classroom experiences
Does your course have a lab and/or on-line component, and do you teach it?
Challenges: Infrastructure (network),
Opportunities: students get a new way to approach their learning, interacting with each
What are your options for frequency and duration of class/lab meeting times?
Challenges: booking lab time/ data projector
Opportunities:
Task 1.1b: Who are your students, and what do they need?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Are your students gifted & talented, middle-of-the-road, or learning support?
Challenges: Middle of Road ... stretching students to reach potential ; Learning support students modified assessment tasks
Opportunities: slow workers may be able to access technology to help them
In what way might your students use what they have learned in your course in the future?
Challenges: Students not losing skills because the skills may not be practised
Opportunities: Making the use of technology relevant not just a fill in.
What is the demography of students in your course in terms of age, race, gender, and ethnicity?
Challenges:
Opportunities: Most students are from a similar background and have real life experience with ocean environment, may be able to make a real difference to the way students relate to the ocean (e.g. littering problems at school)
What percentage of students in your course have high-speed computer access outside the at home?
Challenges: some students don't have a computer at home
Opportunities: Students will be able to utilise their computers in a more worthwhile way
Task 1.1c: What is the support structure for your course?
Answer the questions below. In addition to the facts, comment both on the challenges to designing your course posed by each factor and on the opportunities presented by each factor that you could take advantage of in designing your course.
Are you the default computer troubleshooter, or do students and staff have other support people to turn to if they run into difficulty with a computer problem related to your course?
No!!
Challenges: Access to the IT support staff and the time it takes to solve problems. Machine reliability. Student Profiles easily corrupted
Opportunities: Fix some of the issues
Does your school have writing, quantitative literacy, or oral communications skills centres that can provide supplemental help/instruction for students?
Challenges: Support staff for students (LEC) may need training - > opportunity to PD staff to continue practise of using IT in school.
Opportunities: Better links between English (communication) skills and other subject areas